Contents

History

Background

Not much is known about Rufus, other than he is a reliable tracking dog, and a "good boy".

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2

Rufus arrives at Beecher's Hope during the epilogue, having been adopted by Abigail and Jack Marston. He is described by Abigail as "loyal, dumb and angry". During the mission "Trying Again", he is bitten by a snake while John and Jack are fishing, and John must suck the venom out of him. Rufus can then be found wandering around the ranch, playing with Jack, and occasionally following John while he completes his daily chores.

Events of Undead Nightmare

Note:The events of Undead Nightmare are not considered part of the same canon as Red Dead Redemption. The following description is therefore not contiguous with the preceding section on Red Dead Redemption.

During the mission "Love in the Time of Plague", Rufus is seen being chased behind the house by the Undead Jack Marston. His fate after this mission is unknown, as soon as Marston hogties Abigail, Jack starts running toward John.

Gallery

Trivia

In Red Dead Redemption 2, Rufus has a different model from all other Labradors in-game, being lankier and with noticeably larger ears for his body size. This may indicate that Rufus is still in adolescence (around 8-12 months old) and is not finished growing.

Rufus also has a different skin from other labradors, with darker markings compared to other yellow labs, as well as being liver-based rather than black-based (as can be told by his brown nose).

Rufus appears to be a yellow Labrador Retriever, not to be confused with the Golden Retriever. (Golden Retrievers have a longer coat).

Sometimes if the player kills a dog while playing as Jack Marston he will say "I guess I just miss Rufus."

Rufus can occasionally be found inside the House (Beecher's Hope) and is found in Jack's room and lies down until he wakes up.

If the player kills Rufus, like when killing members of John's family, the game will fail.

On rare occasions, two Rufus dogs will spawn, but the player cannot kill either of them.

Rufus may be killed by a cougar, should one enter Beecher's Hope. This does not affect missions, however, and he will simply respawn.

After the mission, "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed" and the stranger-side mission, "Remember My Family", Rufus can be seen sitting in Jack's room on the rug. It is possible to nudge Rufus out of the house, however after that, he will just run away and if the player moves their camera off of him just once, he will disappear.

After the main storyline has been completed, if the player whistles while at Beecher's Hope, Rufus can be heard barking in the distance. However, he will not come to Jack as most other dogs do after Marston whistles.

If the player studies Rufus in Red Dead Redemption 2, the text will simply read "Rufus is a good boy", instead of the typical breed information shown when studying other dogs.